Designing Your Own Personal Logo for Presentations

If you live on SlideShare like my team does, then you can understand the challenge of sharing and showcasing a logo that makes an impact. Your logo typically drives the entire look and feel of your deck, so having one that stands out absolutely matters.

Here are a few things to keep in mind if you plan on revamping your existing logo or creating one from scratch.

Keep It Simple

Your logo needs to be clear, and each line needs to be visible. Every element must be easy-to-see at different sizes.

What I love about the above logo is just how simple it is, yet it still makes a dramatic visual impact.

Make It Memorable

The best logos relate back to the organization’s story. What’s the story of your brand and how can this be brought to life visually to make a memorable impact on your prospects and clients?

This is a fantastic example of telling a story. Sure, the Siren has nothing to do with coffee but she represents the pursuit of dreams.

Pursue Purpose

A logo should always have a mission and purpose behind it. So, the question you need to ask yourself is: “Is my logo communicating a clear functionality?”

Have you ever looked closely at the Amazon (A-Z) or FedEx (look for the arrow) logos? They are powerful logos because they are not only beautiful and simple but they serve an extra function by communicating a supportive visual message.

Be Emotional

Shape, color and size all matter since they all generate different responses. Choose wisely. Let’s look at the sample below:

Could you imagine the Barbie logo in any other color? Make sure every shape and color has a purpose.

Ready to get started? Fantastic. Just make sure your process includes the following before you press “Go.”

Research

Gather the right information and be sure to gauge what your competition is doing with their design. How can you be different? What can separate you from them?

Sketch it Up

Go analog and put down shapes and styles that inspire you. Keep doing this over and over again until your narrow down your favorites.

Get Feedback

Share your concepts with friends, family and colleagues. Get as much feedback as possible and be careful to not lose sight of mission and objective since opinions are opinions. Don’t let subjectivity corrupt your vision.

Test

Narrow everything down to your top favorites and hold a focus group or two to truly judge which makes the best impact.

Designing a logo is definitely not an easy task. Fun? Absolutely! Tough and frustrating? Unfortunately, a big fat “Yes!” But, it’s highly rewarding once you find the right fit.

Scott Schwertly is the author of How to Be a Presentation God and CEO of Ethos3, a Nashville, TN-based presentation boutique providing professional presentation design and training for national and international clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to branded individuals like Guy Kawasaki. If Scott is not working with his team building presentations, you will find him in the pool, on the bike, or on a long run. Scott lives in Nashville, TN with his wife and three dogs. He has a B.A. and M.B.A. from Harding University.

2 Responses to “Designing Your Own Personal Logo for Presentations”

Haha, I thought that thing under the Amazon letters was a smirk lol.

Nice list of tips and it really helped that you incorporated and discussed several popular logos. I really love how that arrow is present in the Fedex logo. We try to come up with simple yet powerful logos like this on http://www.logodesignstudio.org.

Topics

About the SlideShare Blog

SlideShare, a LinkedIn company, is the world's largest community for sharing presentations. The SlideShare Blog is a space for SlideShare users, fans and others to discuss and share best practices on the site, favorite presentations, new features and more.
Email us at editor at slideshare dot com.

About the SlideShare Blog

SlideShare, a LinkedIn company, is the world's largest community for sharing presentations. The SlideShare Blog is a space for SlideShare users, fans and others to discuss and share best practices on the site, favorite presentations, new features and more. Email us at editor@slideshare.com.